Ex-Day6 member eaJ opens up about being “very angry” at the K-pop system

Korean-American singer-songwriter and former Day6 member eaJ (also known as Jae Park) has opened up about his feels about the K-pop industry.

In a new interview with Bandwagon Asia, the 29-year-old singer touched on his time in the K-pop industry as part of the pop rock band Day6 and spoke about why he has been so open about his experience thus far. Park previously talked about the lack of freedom he felt and has expressing his displeasure with it on several occasions.

“I think I was very angry with the system itself, and to be honest, I think I carried that anger further than I needed to,” confessed eaJ. “I realised I was hurting friends because of my experience within the industry, and I don’t think that’s fair.”

Park also acknowledged that he had started “lashing out” at everybody over his anger, before making an apology. “Not only for the things I’ve done, but just for my mindset having been in the place it was when I was still not aware of it,” explained the singer.

eaJ later elaborated on the misgivings he had with the K-pop industry, sharing that one of his biggest challenges was the lack of creative control over his music. “It kind of felt like sometimes the company’s visions were not aligned with [Day6’s]. It was frustrating to voice an idea and not have that be listened to.”

Earlier this month, the former Day6 vocalist unveiled his first official single ‘Car Crash’, the follow-up to several unofficial solo projects since 2020. It also marked his first music since he departed from Day6 and long-time label JYP Entertainment earlier this year.